{"id":493108,"date":"2025-06-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=493108"},"modified":"2025-06-25T20:14:30","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T20:14:30","slug":"soldiers-share-their-story-of-military-service-with-local-community-members","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=493108","title":{"rendered":"Soldiers share their story of military service with local community members"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Sgt. 1st Class Justin Craggs displays one of his personal protective equipment pieces to a Northwest Special Recreation Association attendee during the NWSRA\u2019s Pursuit program, June 17, 2025. The Soldiers there discussed the roles of the Army and shared their personal stories of military service with the audience members.<\/p>\n

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\n Sgt. 1st Class Justin Craggs, left, and Master Sgt. Christine Andrizzi, right, pause for a photo with an event participant during the Northwest Special Recreation Association\u2019s Pursuit program, June 17, 2025. The Soldiers there discussed the roles of the Army and shared their personal stories of military service with the audience members.<\/p>\n

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ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Illinois \u2013 Soldiers, assigned to the 85th U.S. Army Reserve Support Command, visited with participants of the Northwest Special Recreation Association Pursuit program, June 17, 2025, at program locations in Rolling Meadows and Mount Prospect, Illinois, to share what military life is like.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an area where adults with disabilities can learn life skills and be a part of the community,\u201d said Danielle Cassel, Collaborative Coordinator, NWSRA.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of these people have special interests. They like talking to people about their jobs and their life. It\u2019s very enriching,\u201d said Callum Everan, Direct Service Professional, NWSRA.<\/p>\n

Participants had an opportunity to hear Sgt. 1st Class Justin Craggs, G-3 Mobilization Non-Commissioned Officer and Railway Operations Specialist along with Master Sgt. Christine Andrizzi, G-2, Intelligence Security Manager, talk about their Army Reserve careers and daily responsibilities working at the 85th USARSC.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the Army Reserve we don\u2019t have tanks, but we have support vehicles, \u201csaid Craggs, an Army Reserve Soldier with 17 years of service, who works full-time for a plumbing supply company. \u201cOur job is to provide support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Craggs also explained how he joined the Army Reserve using the split option program where he went to basic training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma between his junior and senior year of high school. After graduating from high school, he earned the Railway Operations Specialist military occupational specialty at Fort Eustis, Virginia the following summer.<\/p>\n

One NWSRA participant enjoyed the opportunity to learn about the mission of the Army Reserve while another curiously asked the question \u2018How long does it take to take apart a rifle?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the Soldiers. I learned a lot about the Army from them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Andrizzi, a full-time Active Guard and Reserve Soldier, talked about how she began her Army career as a fueler and what her current job entails working in G-2, Intelligence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are your support elements,\u201d said Andrizzi. \u201cWe do a lot of the paperwork. We ensure our (subordinate) units have everything they need to do their job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Soldiers shared that they enjoyed the opportunity to speak and answer questions from the program participants.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved it. We don\u2019t get a chance to do it that much. It\u2019s nice to be able to talk about my experiences because, for the most part, it\u2019s been great. And it\u2019s nice to talk to individuals that want to know and care about what we do in the Army. I would absolutely to it again,\u201d said Andrizzi.<\/p>\n

Craggs also shared a similar sentiment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really enjoyed meeting members of the community and getting to talk about my time and experiences in the Army,\u201d said Craggs. \u201cI think it\u2019s important to share that with the community.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 Sgt. 1st Class Justin Craggs displays one of his personal protective equipment pieces to a Northwest Special Recreation Association attendee during the NWSRA\u2019s Pursuit program, June 17, 2025. The Soldiers there discussed the roles of the Army and shared their personal stories of military service with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":528,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-493108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=493108"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":493109,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493108\/revisions\/493109"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=493108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=493108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=493108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}